My favourite TV shows of 2018

I’m a bit late with all ‘my favourites of 2018’ posts, but better late than never I guess? Anyway, 2018 was such an amazing year when it came to TV shows and I found so many new favourites. Those who made my list didn’t necessarily aired in 2018, but I watched them during that year. I also managed to rank them and I’m so proud of myself, as I’m unable to do that with books and movies for 2018. So without further ado, here are my favourite TV shows of 2018!

10. Peaky Blinders

I finally started watching Peaky Blinders last year* and I fell in love with it, I even watched the first season in less than a day. I’m a huge period drama fan, as you probably know, but I had been reluctant to watch this one, for I was scared it would be a bit too violent for me (I was wrong). The universe kept sending me signs for two days, between seeing articles about the show everywhere or Sam Claflin announcing he would play in series 5 (!!), so that’s how I ended up starting it, and I couldn’t be happier to have watched it. It is full of morally grey characters, which I adore, and I admire the female characters’ of the show so much (okay I fell in love with two of them, but shhhh): Peaky Blinders was one of the reasons I cut my hair shorter in November, I wanted to live the 1920s aesthetic, so yeah. #noregrets*Fun fact: I finished catching up with it today!

9. The Good Place

Another show I watched after everyone else was The Good Place. I didn’t even know what it was about when I started it, just that people were obsessed with it and I feel that it’s the best way to watch it. I had no idea what was going on at first, but I was so curious and needed to have answers: that’s the magic of the show and that’s how you end up binge-watching it in three days or something. The characters are absolutely hilarious, there are so many iconic lines it’s very addictive and I adore the photography of it!

8. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

I started watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine in 2017, but completely caught up with it last year. I’m usually not a use fan of cop shows, because I often find them repetitive, but that’s absolutely not the case for Brooklyn Nine-Nine. All the characters are amazing and picking a favourite is next to impossible for me: they’ve all helped and inspired me in different ways and I’m so grateful they exist. This TV show is perfect to watch when I’m feeling a bit down, it always makes me laugh a little. I am so excited about the newest season, thank god it wasn’t cancelled in the end! *cries*

7. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is such a breath of fresh air: I started watching it because I wanted a ‘lighter’ period drama to watch… and it ended up in a binge-watch and my boyfriend joining in and falling in love with the show as well. This American period drama, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (who also created Gilmore Girls!!), is set in 1958 and follows Myriam “Midge” Maisel, an upper-class Jewish housewife. After her husband leaves her for his secretary, she delivers an impromptu comic performance in a bar where her husband used to act for fun, and after some time, she is inspired to become a comedian. I adore Midge so much and Rachel Brosnahan, who portrays her, delivers such amazing performances (she won two Golden Globes in the past two years?).

6. Jane the Virgin

I’ve been watching Jane the Virgin since 2016 and I’ve always considered it to be one of my favourite TV shows (even though season 2 disappointed me a bit), so truly, it’s no surprise that it’s making the list. And then, season 4 happened and changed my life. That’s not even me being overdramatic, it’s true. 2018 was the year I accepted myself like never before and the show helped me immensely: if it weren’t for that scene with Petra, I would still be doubting myself… Her dream scene was exactly what happened to me, so when I saw that for a fictional character I loved, it truly meant the world to me. I cannot wait for the last season, I just want to see these characters happy. That’s all I need.

5. Star Wars: The Clone Wars

It’s no secret that I’m so obsessed with The Last Jedi that I watched it eleven times on the big screen. While I was on a Star Wars roll, I decided I would finally get started on the new Expanded Universe, whether it was TV shows, books or comics. I wasn’t too excited about watching The Clone Wars at first, as I’m not a huge fan of Episode II or Anakin, but as the first two seasons were on Netflix, I gave it a go. Little did I know that it would make me love the Fall of the Republic era so much, that I would meet one of my favourite Star Wars characters in the person of Ahsoka Tano, that I would get super obsessed with the show. It’s so worth it and a great place to start if you want to go beyond the Star Wars movies!

4. Everything Sucks!

Everything Sucks! means the world to me, because it’s the show that finally gave me the strength to come out. I’ll always remember how much I cried and how I wrote all the words I had always been too scared to say. Truly, I will always be heartbroken they decided to cancel it. I dedicated a blog post to it if you want to know more about it, but this is the show I had always needed in my life. It’s set in 1996 (the year I was born!) and it follows high school misfits in the AV and drama clubs who brave the ups and downs of teenage life in the VHS era. It is full of pop culture references, it has amazing characters and a great coming out story. I have to admit that it’s hard to watch at first, because there is bullying and homophobic slur, it truly shows how life can be awful in high school, but it gets better and better with every episode. I miss this show so much, I need to rewatch it.

3. One Day at a Time

One Day at a Time already was in my previous favourite TV shows list and of course, it kept its spot. It is one of the greatest and most important TV shows that was ever made and if you still haven’t watched it, please do. I made all my friends watch it and they all got obsessed, because clearly I have good taste (I’m joking of course). It tackles down such important and contemporary topics, has a diverse cast of characters and it’s hilarious. Most of all, it has Elena, one of my favourite fictional characters ever, she’s so inspiring, she makes me want to fight to get what I want and to be myself, without hiding. No, but really, can you believe that we have a Latina, gay, feminist, vegetarian and super clever main character as awesome as she is? I cannot wait to rewatch the first two seasons to be ready for the third!

2. The Bold Type

When I started watching The Bold Type, it truly felt like the one and it’s definitely one of the TV shows that has inspired me the most. It is a feminist, empowering, diverse and topical show, tackling down so many contemporary issues and doing it in such a clever way. It follows the lives of Jane, Kat and Sutton, who works for Scarlet, a global women’s magazine. There three girls mean so much to me, because not only the portraying of their friendship is one of the healthiest I have seen on TV, but I see myself in all of them, and they all are my role models in a way. They still are at the beginning of their professional lives – they’ve worked for four years or something? – and it’s so encouraging for me, as I’m almost done with my studies. If you asked me who was my favourite, I wouldn’t be able to answer, because it changes with every episode and I love them in different ways. I dedicated a blog post to this one as well because I love it too much.

I think that it is my favourite currently airing TV show and it could almost have been number 1 on this list as well, if it weren’t for…

1. Parks and Recreation

*everyone pretends to be shocked* I don’t think that my words could ever do justice at how much I adore this show, but just know this: I watched all seven seasons in a month and a half. Parks and Rec is set in Pawnee, Indiana, and follows the team from the Parks and Recreation department (duh) on their adventures. It’s funny, always makes me feel good, has relatable characters and I would almost move to Pawnee to work in the department by day and be a Mouse Rat groupie by night. *starts singing The Pit* My favourite character was of course my wife April Ludgate, she’s the best and I adore Aubrey Plaza, so that’s no surprise! I miss the show so much, I need to rewatch it, I need to buy the DVDs, how have I been holding on without it for the past seven months and six days?? H O W??